In windows there is no difference in compatibility between cards. If it supports glide it supports glide.

In dos only the voodoo1 was ever officially supported. With that said, the majority of DOS glide games can be patched to work with a voodoo2 or voodoo2 sli.

mothergoose729 wrote on 2023-10-11, 07:17:

In windows there is no difference in compatibility between cards. If it supports glide it supports glide.

This is generally true, but there are a few exceptions like Pandemonium and Mortal Kombat 4. Those games won't run in Glide mode on a Voodoo 3 and higher.

To the OP, the advantage of the Voodoo 1 is that it "just works" with DOS and early Windows Glide games, without the need to tweak anything. It's a nice fit for a Socket 7 system with a Pentium MMX. The disadvantage is that performance isn't so good in games made after 1997. For example, Unreal gets 15-20 FPS at 640x480 on a Voodoo 1.

A Voodoo 2 is much faster, especially when paired with a more powerful CPU. I can't really speak about compatibility, since I don't own one, but other people have had good experiences with getting early Glide games to run on that card by setting certain variables and using other tweaks. You likely want a decent Slot 1 system for a Voodoo 2 to fully spread its wings.

@all Thanks for the help.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-10-11, 07:39:

mothergoose729 wrote on 2023-10-11, 07:17:

In windows there is no difference in compatibility between cards. If it supports glide it supports glide.

You likely want a decent Slot 1 system for a Voodoo 2 to fully spread its wings.

Yes, that was my thoughts exactly. A decent slot 1 motherboard plus Vodoo 2 plus a fast pentium 2 in the 300 to 450 MHz should be the most logical choice to cover the games in my area of interest 1996 to 1998 in the best possible quality.

But then I realised that I am into many games from 1996 and 1997 as well and I was a bit confused about potential backward compatibility problems. I have read about it but could not verify yet if these problems are just relevant for later iterations of the Voodoo card (voodoo 3 and onwards) or if some problems could already occur with the Voodoo 2 cards.

I already found a slot motherboard from a local seller that I could purchase.

it is a Intel 440BX Mainboard Slot 1 with a Pentium II 350 mhz cpu.

What do you guys think about the 350 mhz PII? Should be a good choice for me right?

A Pentium II 350 + Voodoo 2 would make a solid gaming setup for that time period.

You may run into some compatibility issues with early 3Dfx games (IIRC, Interstate '76 is such a game).

Another option would be to use something a nVidia TNT + Voodoo 1 card. The former can support Direct3D and OpenGL games, with the Voodoo 1 specifically for early Glide supported games.

It comes down to what games you are most interested in playing and tailoring your setup for those games.

mothergoose729 wrote on 2023-10-11, 07:17:

In dos only the voodoo1 was ever officially supported. With that said, the majority of DOS glide games can be patched to work with a voodoo2 or voodoo2 sli.

This is correct. However, with the Voodoo2 there is no real compatibility loss over the Voodoo Graphics card in practice and I modded the Glide 2.4x OVL files to deal with the handful of DOS games that still don't run regardless of patches and environment variables set.

Personally, and many will likely disagree, but I'd go for a Pentium II or Pentium III with a Voodoo 3.

Will serve you well for 96-99 with plenty of power and only a single GPU. Still good Vesa support and 16mb of VRAM will handle slightly newer titles very well.

For me a P3 533-800 plus Voodoo3 is the pinnacle of civilisation

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-10-11, 14:18:

A Pentium II 350 + Voodoo 2 would make a solid gaming setup for that time period. […]
Show full quote

A Pentium II 350 + Voodoo 2 would make a solid gaming setup for that time period.

You may run into some compatibility issues with early 3Dfx games (IIRC, Interstate '76 is such a game).

Another option would be to use something a nVidia TNT + Voodoo 1 card. The former can support Direct3D and OpenGL games, with the Voodoo 1 specifically for early Glide supported games.

It comes down to what games you are most interested in playing and tailoring your setup for those games.

Thanks for the info. The games I want to play are primerly glide games from 1996 to 1998. For direct 3d games only I can use my more modern Athlon system.

Cool thing that you mentioned the TNT Card. That's also the card I would pick as a Partner Card for my Voodoo 1 or Voodoo 2.

Geon106 wrote on 2023-10-11, 16:48:

Personally, and many will likely disagree, but I'd go for a Pentium II or Pentium III with a Voodoo 3.

Will serve you well for 96-99 with plenty of power and only a single GPU. Still good Vesa support and 16mb of VRAM will handle slightly newer titles very well.

For me a P3 533-800 plus Voodoo3 is the pinnacle of civilisation

I have to agree. A Voodoo 3 and fast pentium III would also be a neat choice. In fact money wise the Voodoo 3 would be the smarter choice because they can be obtained at cheaper price than the Voodoo 1 and Voodoo 2 cards.

A Voodoo 3 would also eliminate the need to purchase a second direct 3d card.

The only reason I have removed the V3 from my list off potential cards is that I was not sure if the V3 is 100 per cent backward comptible with the earliest glide games.

I also think that V2 system plus a Direct 3d card would be more flexible for my gaming plans. The Vodoo 2 card would run glide games perefectly and for dedicated direct 3d or openl games I could use the Nvdia card.

predator_085 wrote on 2023-10-12, 06:42:

The only reason I have removed the V3 from my list off potential cards is that I was not sure if the V3 is 100 per cent backward comptible with the earliest glide games.

It's not.

And even some DOS Glide games that do work on the Voodoo 3 have issues, like Tomb Raider missing Lara's shadow and such. Unlike with the Voodoo 2, there is no way to mitigate the Voodoo 3 incompatibilities by setting variables etc.

predator_085 wrote on 2023-10-12, 06:42:

The only reason I have removed the V3 from my list off potential cards is that I was not sure if the V3 is 100 per cent backward comptible with the earliest glide games.

I also think that V2 system plus a Direct 3d card would be more flexible for my gaming plans. The Vodoo 2 card would run glide games perefectly and for dedicated direct 3d or openl games I could use the Nvdia card.

You will drive yourself crazy and never put together a system if you continue to focus on one game, or even a handful. There will always be a game which doesn't work completely or has a broken feature. As far as the shadows in Tomb Raider go, if you've been in any cave before, how often do you see your shadow, let alone one from a bat attacking you? I didn't even notice they were missing until 10+ years later! You aren't missing anything from enemy shadows or even Lara's - The game is still good. If you're focusing on games from 1996-1998, then the Voodoo3 is a great choice, half the cost of a Voodoo2 SLI, and infinitely less cranky.

Diamond C400 mob (Intel 440BX) + Diamond Monster Fusion (3Dfx Voodoo Banshee) + Diamond Sound Impact S90 (Aureal Vortex AU8820)
CPU... I use PII 400MHz Deshutes

Meatball wrote on 2023-10-12, 14:54:

As far as the shadows in Tomb Raider go, if you've been in any cave before, how often do you see your shadow, let alone one from a bat attacking you? I didn't even notice they were missing until 10+ years later! You aren't missing anything from enemy shadows or even Lara's - The game is still good.

In addition to the missing shadows, the lighting (gamma) is also washed out on Voodoo 3 while it looks much more natural by default on the Voodoo 1. You can also adjust gamma through a variable on the Voodoo 1 while that doesn't work on the Voodoo 3, and neither does using the 3DFX control panel under Windows.

As someone who owns both cards, I specifically got a Voodoo 1 so that I wouldn't have to worry about compatibility issues with DOS Glide games and early Windows titles. There are many advantages to using the Voodoo 3, but compatibility with early Glide games is not one of them.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-10-12, 15:33:

Meatball wrote on 2023-10-12, 14:54:

As far as the shadows in Tomb Raider go, if you've been in any cave before, how often do you see your shadow, let alone one from a bat attacking you? I didn't even notice they were missing until 10+ years later! You aren't missing anything from enemy shadows or even Lara's - The game is still good.

In addition to the missing shadows, the lighting (gamma) is also washed out on Voodoo 3 while it looks much more natural by default on the Voodoo 1. You can also adjust gamma through a variable on the Voodoo 1 while that doesn't work on the Voodoo 3, and neither does using the 3DFX control panel under Windows.

As someone who owns both cards, I specifically got a Voodoo 1 so that I wouldn't have to worry about compatibility issues with DOS Glide games and early Windows titles. There are many advantages to using the Voodoo 3, but compatibility with early Glide games is not one of them.

Yes, but that wasn't my point. Overall, one game is a poor reason to pick one card over the other (which is why you bought two cards) unless that is "the" game you're designing the system around, and you are OK with other potential incompatibilities. You will find some other game will be busted, so you're back where you started.

Meatball wrote on 2023-10-12, 15:38:

Yes, but that wasn't my point. Overall, one game is a poor reason to pick one card over the other (which is why you bought two cards) unless that is "the" game you're designing the system around, and you are OK with other potential incompatibilities. You will find some other game will be busted, so you're back where you started.

I agree, targeting just one game will always lead to things like that. That said, there are other early Glide games that don't work on the Voodoo 3, like Pandemonium and Mortal Kombat 4 (Glide mode) which I mentioned previously. There's also this list by @vetz.

I guess my point is, for 1996 and 1997 Glide games, you get perfect compatibility out of the box (no tweaks needed) when using a Voodoo 1 with a period correct rig, OS and drivers. Performance won't be maxed, but everything will look as it was intended by the developers. On the other hand, a Voodoo 3 will give you a lot more power and a sharper image (no passthrough, better filter), but that comes at the expense of some compatibility.

Meatball wrote on 2023-10-12, 15:38:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-10-12, 15:33:

Meatball wrote on 2023-10-12, 14:54:

As far as the shadows in Tomb Raider go, if you've been in any cave before, how often do you see your shadow, let alone one from a bat attacking you? I didn't even notice they were missing until 10+ years later! You aren't missing anything from enemy shadows or even Lara's - The game is still good.

As someone who owns both cards, I specifically got a Voodoo 1 so that I wouldn't have to worry about compatibility issues with DOS Glide games and early Windows titles. There are many advantages to using the Voodoo 3, but compatibility with early Glide games is not one of them.

Yes, but that wasn't my point. Overall, one game is a poor reason to pick one card over the other (which is why you bought two cards) unless that is "the" game you're designing the system around, and you are OK with other potential incompatibilities. You will find some other game will be busted, so you're back where you started.

I understand that the OP likes to check every possible issue or hardware/software possibilities but I recall quite some threads from his part that give me a strong sense of some kind of analysis paralysis. What's funny is that he often complements (and thanks for) the advice given with a lot of info and opinion of his own, as if it's not news to him, but for some reason he did not want to make a decision himself...

As a beginner I obviously commend you and totally understand that you resort to more experienced and knowledgeable people as everyone else here is, but in this case even I don't think it's that hard... Like Meatball said, you will drive yourself crazy if you continue to micro focus on so many aspects at the same time. 3dfx hardware is so specific in its time frame and its use, that it will be very hard for you to span more than let's say maybe 2 years of software with each card, and with some inevitable problems in the mix. The ceiling is much lower than other options beyond 3dfx. I said before in another thread that I always had the sense that the majority of people seeking 3dfx today are the same ones that used to have it back then. It really was a huge impressive leap at the time and it still resonates with those users. But nowadays as a general example, even a simple 128-bit GF 4 MX440 has much better performance and compatibility from DOS up to maybe 2003 and with much better image quality, without passthroughs, etc., and for much, much cheaper. As people said here, it all depends of what specific games you want to play... If that's not clearly defined beforehand, you'll be walking in circles forever, as it's 3dfx and Glide, with quirks, patches, game specific issues... A quick list will make it clear right away which card is best for you.

If you are so invested in making a 3dfx build I would think you had some specific games in mind already, unless you just want a 3dfx build for the hardware and "history", in which case I'd suggest just get the cheaper option between a Voodoo 2 and 3 with a period correct board/CPU, and live with the results.

Just my 2 cents...